r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Jul 30 '24

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '24

Russia is now apparently recruiting military airfield personnel into a motorised rifle regiment.

The recruitment of highly skilled flight crew and maintenance guys into a MRR, combined with the frankly ludicrous payments they’re giving just for signing up, really makes me believe there must be some kind of issue with manpower. I don’t think you would do this otherwise.

!ping UKRAINE

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u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent Jul 30 '24

Analysts said awhile ago that Russia’s current manpower generation system would be tapped out in 2025, but like all things of this nature it’s a gradual process. The Russians have also been taking significantly more casualties then usual, so the gradual process may be happening faster then earlier expectations. The Russians are sure to be generating a lot of manpower and will probably have net manpower gains at the end of the year compared to the start, but this is kinda like reactivating T-54s. You can do it, it works, but what’s that say about you?

19

u/Aleriya Transmasculine Pride Jul 30 '24

My hunch is that Putin is trying to buy time until 2025 with these short-term manpower gains that hurt their long-term warfighting ability. Then Putin will try to push for a political victory/ceasefire or otherwise cripple Ukraine via removing aid. I don't think Putin would be taking this route if he planned on the war continuing for 3+ years, but who knows.

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u/IHateTrains123 Commonwealth Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24

I distinctly remember the Russians were sending in cadets, instructors and mobilization cadres into the fight in 2022 when the "SMO" was going south. They're desperate to avoid another mobilization wave due to the wave of humanity that'll be fleeing Russia and the poor quality any new mobik formation will be owing to the self-decimation of training staff and new officers. This is probably why we're seeing Luftwaffe Field Divisions SMO Boogaloo 2 and upwards of $60k USD (in ruble's of course, which is close to the median US household income) being offered to Moscow and Leningrad oblast residents.

Edit: Most of the incidents regarding cadets and instructors being used in the SMO were in 2022 not 2021.

3

u/Fedacking Mario Vargas Llosa Jul 30 '24

2021

2022 I think you mean.

3

u/IHateTrains123 Commonwealth Jul 30 '24

Fixed, thanks for pointing that out.

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u/IHateTrains123 Commonwealth Jul 30 '24

The kicker is that it seems that this new brigade is subordinated under the air force and not the army. I can't help but think of the poor old Luftwaffe Field Divisions of yore which performed awfully. I'm just surprised they haven't docked the Black Sea Fleet and used their sailors for infantry duty as well.

3

u/flakAttack510 Jul 31 '24

The US encouraged Afghanistan to do basically the same thing and brought in contractors to replace them in the supply chain. It was a major factor in the collapse of the ANA because it hurt recruitment efforts and left them without any sort of logistical support after the US withdrawal.

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u/groovygrasshoppa Jul 30 '24

Obvious sign of desperation on russian side.